Through Your Eyes

by Shannyn Schroeder

  “So tell us about Tommy,” Cara said.

  What was she supposed to say? “Like Maggie said, he lives across the street.”

  “Easy access.” Alyson wagged her eyebrows.

  “He’s tallish. Thin. He’s a tattoo artist and has tattoos all over.”

  “All over?” Maggie questioned. “Just how far have things gone?”

  Deirdre puckered her lips. This was why she preferred not to give details. People always wanted more. “We’ve gone far enough.” Liar, a little voice in her head said. Her body didn’t think they’d gone far enough at all. “He’s an excellent kisser.”

  Thoughts of kissing Tommy warmed her blood and sparked desire. Remembering the orgasm he’d given her with just his fingers made her wonder how good he could be if he used other parts of his body.

  “Oh, come on. That’s not telling us anything. Don’t tell me you did nothing more than kiss. I practically kiss my neighbor and we’ve never been on a date.”

  Alyson barked out another laugh. “That’s because you don’t have time for dates because of law school.”

  “Then you should feel lucky that I took a night out to spend with you.” Cara leaned close. “She’s right, though. Throw the dog a bone. Give me something.”

  Deirdre reared back. Even if she were one to share details, would she want to offer something for a stranger to fantasize about? Then a thought hit her. She smiled at Cara. “I like to keep things private, but I will say that he’s quite good with his hands.”

  Maggie’s jaw dropped and Deirdre almost regretted saying anything, but Cara and Alyson were laughing, so she joined in. They ordered another round of drinks, and Deirdre finally put Rory out of her mind.

  Chapter Nine

  Tommy had just gotten out of the shower and dropped into bed after a long day at work. Most of the time, he liked being busy, doing a variety of tattoos, but his night had been focused on one client. He was exhausted as he fell onto the mattress naked. He heard noise in Sean’s room and thought about getting up to tell him to keep it down. Then Sean thumped on the wall separating their rooms.

  “Hey, Cupcake is outside my window. Should I let her in?”

  “What?”

  “Cupcake is at my window. I think she thought it was yours, but she’s drunk.”

  Tommy jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. He bolted out the back door and into the gangway. She was wobbling away toward the street.

  “Deirdre?”

  She spun and crashed into the wall.

  “Heeeeeyyy.” She spoke with a smile as she leaned against the bricks. “I was looking for you.”

  He pointed at the window. “That’s Sean’s room.”

  “Oh.”

  “Did you need something?”

  She stumbled forward quickly and he caught her in his arms. She looked up at him and said, “You.”

  His dick answered one way, while his mouth continued to question. “How did you get so drunk?”

  “With Maggie and Aly and Cara. It’s a men-suck drunk.”

  The only name he knew was Maggie, and after that, he kind of lost her. And it didn’t get any better. She spoke quickly and her words were slurred. Her accent was so thick that he didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about. He only understood about every third or fourth word.

  With his arms around her shoulders, he turned her back toward the street. “Let’s get you home.”

  “No!” She pushed him back against the wall and the cold brick bit into his bare back.

  “Sweetheart, you’re drunk and with your accent, I can barely understand what you’re saying. I can see you’re upset about something. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

  She lifted her chin higher. “I’ll speak slowly. I don’t want to talk about it.” Her voice hitched and she swallowed. “I don’t want to think. I want to forget.” She pressed her hips against him. Her hard nipples brushed his chest. “You can help me forget.”

  Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? “Let’s go in then. I’m cold out here.”

  When she stepped away, he put his hand on her back and felt skin. He looked and saw that the shirt she wore was indeed backless. He would need the strength of a hundred guys to do right by her. He led her to his room. At the door, she paused and looked over to Sean’s room.

  “Did your brother call me Cupcake?”

  Tommy nodded. “Uh, well, when I first saw you, you were decorating cupcakes at the bakery. I didn’t know your name, so in my head, I called you Cupcake.”

  She ran a hand down his chest. “Must not’ve only been in your head if that’s what your brother calls me.”

  “For someone so drunk, you’re thinking pretty clearly.”

  She tapped her forehead. “That’s cuz I’m smart.” She giggled and leaned on him.

  “What the hell did you drink?”

  “Dunno. Something pink. Then something brown. Maybe an orange one?”

  Holy fuck. She was gonna be sick.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  She twirled a finger. “Swirly. And numb.” Her lips trembled. “I don’t like numb. That’s why I came here. I’m not numb with you.”

  Pushing off his chest, she walked into his room and flopped on the bed. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Holy Mary. The room is spinning.” Her hand landed on her stomach.

  Tommy went to the corner of the room and grabbed his trash can. Then he ran upstairs and grabbed a glass of water. Back in his room, Deirdre lay moaning on his bed.

  “Here’s a trash can in case you need to puke.”

  “Don’t—” Then she lurched forward, yanked the can, and hurled.

  He set the glass on the nightstand and sat beside her. He held her hair as she retched and did his best to tune out the sound and smell.

  When she was done, he took the can and offered her the glass of water. She tried to push it away.

  “You need the water. Rinse out your mouth and then try to take a sip.”

  She did as she was told and then lay back. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “Coming here. Bothering you. Puking.” A tear leaked from the corner of her closed eye.

  Tommy swiped it away. He had no idea what had happened to her tonight, but she was torn apart. “I’m glad you came to me.”

  She huffed and turned her head.

  “I don’t know why you’re hurting, but you came to me to feel better. I want to help you.” He wanted to take care of her, soothe her.

  Tommy bent over her feet and removed her shoes. He was going to offer her different clothes to wear, but he didn’t know if he’d be strong enough to help strip her. So he climbed into bed beside her and pulled the blanket over them.

  He tucked her hair behind her ear and stroked her cheek. “Talk to me.”

  She rolled over to her side, scootching her back to him. He curled around her, loving the fit of their bodies.

  “I spoke to Rory today.”

  His hand flinched on her hip. He hated that this guy who supposedly loved her would make her feel bad. Even if she had come to Tommy for a good time. Tommy wrapped his arm all the way around her, tucking his fingers under her ribs, holding her tight to him.

  “I was feeling so guilty for what we’d done. I was torn because he’d told me to go out with you. And it felt so good.”

  “I love being with you, but I’ll walk away if it makes you feel bad. I never wanted you to feel guilty about us.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I never got around to telling him. He broke up with me. He’s fallen in love with someone else.”

  Then she broke apart and cried. Sobs racked her body. He held her tight, handed her a tissue, and tried to console her. He felt horrible that she was crying, but satisfaction weighed in that she was finally done with this guy. They were now free to explore whatever they wanted. They lay like that until she fell asleep.

  Then
, even though he was exhausted himself, he climbed out of bed and found Deirdre’s phone in her purse. He normally wouldn’t go through a woman’s purse, but he had a feeling she would worry about her aunt finding out she’d spent the night here.

  No password on her phone. She really was naïve. He scrolled through her contacts and called Maggie.

  “Hey, babe. I figured you would’ve been passed out by now.”

  “She is.”

  “Who the hell is this?”

  “Tommy.”

  “What are you doing with Deirdre’s phone?”

  He paced between his room and the bathroom. “She came over and knocked on my window. She’s trashed.”

  “So help me God, Tommy, if you took advantage—”

  “What? Go to hell, Maggie. I would never do that. Even if I didn’t have a conscience of my own, Jimmy would literally kill me if I ever did something like that.” It didn’t matter that they didn’t know each other well. They had grown up across the street from each other. His brother was best friends with her brother and was marrying her sister.

  “That probably came out wrong. I just meant that she had a really shitty day.”

  “I know. She told me.”

  “She did?”

  “Yeah. After she puked and before she fell asleep. I’m calling because you need to call your mom and tell her Deirdre’s with you. She wouldn’t want your mom to know she spent the night in my bed.”

  Maggie laughed. “We’re better off not saying anything. Wait until my mom leaves tomorrow morning and then Deirdre can go home. If you open the door with a lie, my mom has room to question and probe. If we say nothing, she’ll assume Deirdre was with me.”

  Maggie made sense. She also didn’t sound drunk at all. “Okay. Next time, you might want to make sure she doesn’t mix so much different alcohol. She’s gonna be paying for that.”

  “Well, since her heart is broken, I’m hoping there won’t be a next time.”

  Tommy couldn’t help but think that was yet another warning. He didn’t need to be warned. He had no intention of breaking her heart. If anything, he was setting himself up for a broken heart.

  “Talk to you later.”

  As he went to disconnect, Maggie yelled, “Wait.”

  “What?”

  “Thank you for taking care of her. It was bitchy to assume you’d be an asshole. For the record, she really likes you.”

  His heart beat harder hearing that from Maggie. He’d known Deirdre liked him, but to know that she’d told her cousin how she felt made it more real, like they had a shot at something.

  “I really like her too.”

  “Good night.”

  He hung up and went back to his bedroom. He put her phone back in her purse and crawled into bed. Curling up next to Deirdre, he held her close again and fell asleep.

  * * *

  Deirdre tried to turn over, but felt trapped. Between her churning stomach and a warm body next to her, she didn’t want to move. Warm body? Her eyes flew open in panic. A tattooed arm wrapped around her waist. Tommy. Pieces of her night came back to her. What had she done?

  Tommy snuggled against her, his breath fluttering her hair. His erection pressed into her back. Then she remembered why she’d come here last night. She’d wanted to have sex with Tommy. He pulled away and the mattress shifted as he stretched. She was afraid to move, unsure how bad the pain would be. She ran a hand over her body to discover she still wore her clothes from last night.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  His voice was low and rough and sexy.

  The first two adequately described her. “I think something died in my mouth.”

  He chuckled. “That happens when you mix a bunch of booze and then puke.”

  Crap. She had puked. She groaned. “You held my hair.”

  He sat up, patted her hip. “Having a little sister teaches you about those things. Sit tight.”

  She had no plans to go anywhere. Reclosing her eyes, she tried to bring back more of her evening. Maggie, Cara, and Alyson had plied her with drinks all night. They’d danced a lot. She’d flirted with men. A lot of them. She had not been herself. Further evidence of that was the fact that she was in Tommy’s bed.

  She couldn’t imagine the stupid things she’d said to him last night. The bedroom door swung open and Tommy was back. He set some clothes at the foot of the bed.

  “I borrowed clothes from Norah, and there’s a toothbrush. Take a shower. You’ll feel better. I’m going to get us some food.”

  Her stomach clenched. “God, no.”

  “Trust me.” He stood next to her, handed her a glass of water and some pills. “Take these.”

  She levered herself up on an elbow, putting her eye level with his crotch. His penis had made quite the impression on her back. She accepted the glass and pills. After swallowing, she swung her legs over the edge and let her head hang on her shoulders.

  Tommy moved around the room. “Make sure you lock the bathroom door so Sean doesn’t walk in on you.” He paused in front of her again, fully dressed. Then he kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  She barely lifted her head to look at him. “I’m in no hurry to face Aunt Eileen.”

  “Maggie said she’ll assume you spent the night at her house, so no worries.”

  “When did you talk to Maggie?”

  “After you fell asleep.” He pulled on his shoes. “Hope you don’t mind. I used your phone. You should probably have a passcode on that, by the way. I figured your aunt would worry about you not coming home.”

  If Deirdre had been in her right mind, she probably would’ve worried. “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “No problem.” Then he grabbed his keys from the dresser and left.

  Deirdre felt weird sitting in Tommy’s room, especially when he wasn’t there. The room wasn’t very homey. Minimal furniture filled the space. A flat screen was mounted above the dresser. The bed took up most of the space. It was much larger than the one she slept on across the street.

  Thoughts of her last visit barged into her pounding head and she shook them off. Only mentally, though, because moving her head hurt far too much. She grabbed the clothes and toothbrush and poked her head out. Sean’s door was still closed.

  In the bathroom, she brushed her teeth twice and slurped some water. She still felt gross, so she brushed again. Starting the shower, she fought the awkward feeling of being in a stranger’s house naked. She’d never been in this position before. She’d had friends who talked about the walk of shame, but being a virgin in a serious relationship, she hadn’t experienced it. More firsts in Chicago.

  She stepped under the hot spray and immediately felt better. The heat worked the pounding in her head and relaxed her body. When she was back to herself, she knew she’d have plenty of regrets about last night. Nagging thoughts poked at her. What Tommy must think of her.

  Maggie and her friends acted as though her behavior was completely normal. They’d encouraged it. Had they planted the idea of going to Tommy’s? No. She’d told them about Tommy, but her desire to show up uninvited had been all her own idea. She got out of the shower, feeling a little better, and wrapped herself in one towel while using another to wrap her hair.

  Then she pulled on the sweatpants and sweatshirt Tommy had brought her. Just as she was hanging the towels up, a thump sounded at the door.

  “What the fuck, man? I gotta piss.”

  “I’ll be right out.” Good thing Tommy had warned her to lock the door, not that she wouldn’t have on her own. She’d grown up with three brothers.

  Opening the door, she was faced with a naked Sean, who had only a hand over his privates. Deirdre slapped a palm over her own eyes with a yelp. “Sorry.”

  “Cupcake. What are you still doing here?”

  Why did he keep calling her that? “Tommy told me to wait for him.” She slid along the wall to get around Sean, but she had no idea where to go. She heard him laughing as she
moved.

  “It’s safe to open your eyes now. I’m in the bathroom.”

  She dropped her hand and ran back to Tommy’s room and shut the door. Although she hadn’t seen anything, really, mortification stole through her. This day couldn’t get much worse.

  Whistling from the other end of the basement caught her attention.

  “Hey, Deirdre, you up and dressed?” He knocked on the door.

  She swung it open and pulled him in. “You should’ve told Sean that I was here. Or at least warned me that he walks around naked.”

  “I told you to lock the door.”

  “I did. I wasn’t expecting a naked man to be on the other side when I opened it.”

  Sean laughed from his room. “Sorry, Cupcake, I’m taken. You’ll have to settle for my little brother.”

  Her cheeks flamed and she closed her eyes. “I didn’t . . . I don’t.”

  “He’s screwing with you. It’s what my brothers do.” Tommy tugged her hand. “Feeling better?”

  “A little human.”

  “Good. Come upstairs. I have the perfect hangover cure.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Greasy food.”

  Her stomach lurched again.

  “Trust me,” Tommy whispered again.

  “Hope you brought enough for everyone,” Sean called.

  “Don’t I always?”

  Tommy brought her upstairs to the kitchen, where he had a pile of food laid out. Surprisingly, the smell of fresh chips drew her closer. He pulled out a chair and urged her to sit.

  “I got burgers because I think they work best, but I also got a couple of hot dogs.”

  “I want the chips,” she said and reached out.

  “Those are called fries. You’re not in Ireland, honey. You ask for chips here and you’re gonna get something totally different.”

  Of course she knew that. She’d spent enough time here and with her cousins visiting her that she was familiar with many of the differences in language. But when her head hurt and she felt sick, worrying about using the proper word didn’t matter.

  She forced a few fries down, afraid they might come back up, but by the time Tommy had a hamburger unwrapped, she was looking forward to eating it.

  “You want to talk about last night?”